


Aaron Cross

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [83]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Genre: Aaron is Clint, Dork!Clint, M/M, clint is aaron, or - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-02-14 21:34:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2203893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Clint Barton is Aaron Cross</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Aaron Cross is dead." the man in the suit said, handing him a packet. Aaron stared at him a second longer before he opened the packet and reviewed the papers inside. 

"Clint Barton?" Aaron asked.

"Clinton Francis Barton. Yes. Welcome to SHIELD." 

—-

"Hey Phil?" Phil looked up at Aaron who made himself comfortable on the couch at Phil’s office. "How come  _you_  call me Aaron and not Clint?”

Phil’s brow furrowed at that. “Well, Aaron  _is_  your given name, isn’t it?”

"Well, yeah. but… Nobody else calls me that." Aaron shrugged. "I mean, I know there are only a few people who know my name, but none of them ever used it. Just you. Why?"

"Would you rather I call Clint?" Phil cocked his head to the side.

"No, it’s not- I was just curious you know?"

Phil thought it over carefully. Trying to think of another reason besides  _It makes me feel like I’m closer to you_  because not only would it be inappropriate, it’s also unwelcomed. “I like the way the name Aaron sounds.”

Aaron smiled. If Phil hadn’t been listening, he might have missed the way Aaron whispered “Me too.”

"Besides, it suits you." 

—-

"That’s a negative, Barton. Stay in that bed.  _I’ll_  go see how Romanoff is doing.” Phil told him sternly. His two top agents came back successful but looked like a wreck. They hadn’t had time to debrief yet, but Phil was willing to bet this was someone’s fault other than the two. 

"Sir, with all due respect, I’m her partner. I should be the one-" Phil sent over a glare and the archer stilled for a moment before he managed to sit up. "Your glare can only do so much, Phil. I need to see Natasha."

Phil stepped up to him, looked at him straight in the eyes, and this was the first time Aaron had seen him so… vulnerable, there really was no other word for it. Worried? maybe. but this, the look on Phil’s face? It was like he was the one who was supposed to sit in the cot. “Aaron, please.” Phil let his head fall against Aaron’s chest. 

Aaron might be hurt, but he wasn’t numb, his heart was racing and he was silently praying that Phil couldn’t hear the obnoxious thundering. He’d always been weak to Phil, but even more so when the man used his real name. 

It’s unhealthy, he knows, harboring this secret crush on the man who gave him new life. Feeling way too happy every time he hears Phil call out his name, his real name. Wishing to always be next to him. It’s like an addiction. 

Aaron lifted his hand, intending to touch Phil, and possibly never ever let go, but the movement had caused varying degrees of pain throughout his upper body and he winced.

Phil immediately looked up and came face to face with Aaron. He pulled himself away and muttered an apology before walking out of the room.

—-

"I’m fine." Natasha said, even before the door fully opened. Phil entered the room and walked toward her cot. "Go back to him." Phil quirked an eyebrow. "Sir, seriously. he needs you more than I do. Go back to him."

"I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about." Phil answered, as bland as ever. Someday, Natasha is going to break that mask. 

"Yeah. Sure." Natasha rolled her eyes at him. "Liar." Phil sighed and massaged his temples. "Idiots. both of you, you know that?"

Phil looked up. “I’m sorry?”

"Nothing." Natasha put her paperback on the bedside table, replaced it with the remote and began channel surfing. "Hey Phil, Who’s Aaron?" She asked without looking away from the TV.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I heard you say that name one time, and I can’t remember anyone in your roster named Aaron and it’s really bugging me." Natasha settled for Downton Abbey and turned her attention back to Phil.

"Aaron is- He’s-"

"If it’s personal, just say so. I won’t push."

Phil stayed quiet for a moment before he cleared his throat “Aaron is a friend. He’s- no. that’s not right. He’s the man I’m in love with.” He said, a small, genuine smile, played at his lips.

Natasha stared, momentarily stunned. “Oh, okay.” Poor Clint.

—-

"You should just give up." Natasha told him in way of greeting.

"No way. I’m so close to pranking you, your head’s gonna roll." Clint snickered, as they made their way to the mess hall.

"Not that, well- yes you should give up on that too, but I was actually talking about Coulson."

"What? I thought you said-"

"I know what I said." Natasha looks around and pulls him into a corner. "But he isn’t interested." Clint frowned at her, confused. "He’s in love with someone else."

"How can you be so sure? Just last week, you were convincing me I had a chance. What changed."

"He told me. You weren’t there, so you didn’t see the way a small smile lit up his entire face at the mention of being in love with the guy."

Clint sagged, all fight draining from him. It wasn’t fair. All he ever asked for was a chance, and now he wasn’t even given that?

"I’m sorry Clint. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but I figured it’d hurt less coming from me than from Phil himself. Whoever this Aaron person is, he’s got Phil wrapped around his pinkie and-" 

"What’d you say?" Clint asked her.

"I said, it’d hurt less coming from me-"

Clint grabbed her by the arms and shook her “No. the name! You said a name. What name was it?”

"Aaron." Natasha stared at him, confused. "It doesn’t matter, he isn’t in the rosters. I checked. And there’s no Aaron that ever worked with Phil before. It wouldn’t be right to-" Clint kissed her cheek, thanked her with a tight hug and ran off. "spy on Phil." She didn’t even get to finish her sentence.

—-

The door to his office burst open with Aaron on the other side, panting a little. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Phil stood quickly and walked around his desk, “Is there a prob-“

"Would you like to have coffee with me?" Aaron blurt out. 

Phil blinked at him and paused mid-step. Did he even hear that right?

"As a date. A coffee date. with me." Aaron amended and then started babbling "I mean, you don’t have to, if you don’t want to, obviously. But I just thought maybe- I mean, you like coffee right? What am I even talking about? Of course you like coffee. You drink like a gallon of it every morning and I just- I thought maybe the idea of getting more caffeine would be an idea you’d entertain even if it was with me- But I totally get it if you can’t I mean, I know how you’re too busy to even get lunch, not that I’ve been watching but-"

"Yes." Phil said, a smile on his face.

"What?"

"I said, yes. I’d like to go get coffee with you. As a date." 

"Yeah?" Aaron smiled too.

"Yeah."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of the story, the chems are in the form of a serum that is basically the same as the one Erskine used but not exactly.

Phil’s heart was racing. 

And it was not in the good way. He was nervous and scared and very  _very_ worried. When he woke up it was because he had a date with Aaron… but now, it’s for a whole different reason.

The Avengers, yet again, came face to face with HYDRA and they were determined to capture Captain America.

They had managed to incapacitate Iron Man by shooting a device at him that managed to eat through the suit’s power supply in matter of seconds taking the team’s comms system with it. He didn’t even get the chance to ask Thor to ‘hit him’ when he started falling from the sky who landed safely - albeit painfully on one of the towers that loomed the skyline. Thankfully enough, Tony was unharmed, but until he could find the device on his armor, he was a sitting duck.

Meanwhile, The Black Widow was occupied with standing her ground against 15 men and more coming her way. She had taken out more, but this was HYDRA, it was going to be tough but they wouldn’t last with her. She gives them all 10 minutes.

Thor also fought in the air with HYDRA’s aerial assault team. He could crash them all with one strike, but he had to time it right if he didn’t want the crashes to result into unwanted casualties. 

The Hulk was out of sight. Benching this one out while Bruce watched from the carrier. It was HYDRA. The Avengers didn’t need to bring out the big guy. 

Aaron carefully stayed out of sight on top of one of the buildings, helping Natasha take out as much HYDRA agents as they could. 

That’s when Aaron noticed a rogue HYDRA agent running toward a building hidden from him but Aaron saw the weapon he carried was unlike the others. It took Aaron all of 3 seconds to figure out that the agent was after Captain America who was helping civilians out of the line of fire. That was also when Aaron noticed that the comms were down. No wonder he couldn’t hear anyone. 

Aaron took his grappling arrow and launched off of the roof, shooting the arrow at just the right moment for it to land him on the building next door with a fire escape. 

Captain America was already down when he got to him, but Aaron managed to get to him before any HYDRA agent could. But he knew that it wouldn’t be long before they were both surrounded though. 

With that thought in mind, Aaron picked up the Captain’s shield and flung it across the street taking out two of the closest agents while shooting an exploding arrow at the incoming group of agents. The arrow exploded just as the shield managed to return to him. Aaron held on to the shield when he saw that agents from a distance were getting ready to shoot at him. When the firing ceased for a second, he threw the shield again and fired three more arrows before the shield came back. 

This was the problem with long range weapons, it was hard to use when the enemy is closer than 5 meters. Aaron put his bow down next to Cap and retrieved the shield, punching an agent that tried to get to the still out cold Captain. Whatever they shot at Steve, it was strong enough to knock him out that even the serum couldn’t react fast enough. 

Aaron alternated with defense and offense as they got closer and closer. Luckily enough, they meant 5 more agents, which should have been easy enough, if Aaron hadn’t been shot at. The bullet didn’t hit him exactly, but it did manage to graze his arm. 

—-

Steve was brought in to medical where Bruce and the doctors on standby fussed over the unconscious soldier. They identified the bullet that was used to be laced with a poison that was strong enough to kill a man in seconds but weak enough to only incapacitate the Captain for a period of time. 

Bruce’s final diagnosis was that the serum would flush out the rest of the poison in Steve’s system and that he’d be awake again in an hour tops. 

—-

During debriefing, Bruce sat next to Clint and whispered. “Are you okay?”

Clint grinned at him “‘Tis but a flesh wound.” He said, referring to the gash on his arm.

Bruce didn’t seem convinced, but he let it go. When it was his turn to speak though, he let his findings do the talking for him.

"You’re saying it should have killed Clint?" Natasha asked from her seat. 

Bruce nodded. “The bullet that was used on Clint was laced with the same poison that was found in Steve’s blood.”

"How’d you figure that?" Steve asked.

"The wound on Clint’s arm. It had remains of the substance around the open wound." Bruce explained.

"Maybe it didn’t contaminate his blood stream." Tony suggested. 

"I thought of that too, but the size of Clint’s wound suggests otherwise."

"So what might you be suggesting, Banner?" Thor joined.

"The only possible way Clint could’ve escaped that shot was if he had the serum in him."

"So you’re saying, Clint’s a supersoldier?" Natasha asked.

"That’s impossible. No one has been able to crack Erskine’s formula." Tony reminded them.

"But some have gotten close." Phil told them with a sigh. All heads turned to both Phil and Clint. "Your findings are correct Dr. Banner."

"Wait, so I’m not the only supersoldier in the room?" Steve asked them, a smirk growing in his face. 

"You are. Clint has a different kind of serum working through him." Phil started to explain. "It’s similar to the one in your blood, but its unstable."

"Unstable?" Thor parroted.

"Yes. It enables him to heal faster than an average person would, but not as fast as Captain Roger’s. Basically the same but weaker."

"That’s why I can still get drunk off my ass but no hangover." Clint grinned at them.

"What makes it unstable then?" Bruce asked.

"He needs regular dosage to maintain the effects."

"So it’s a temporary fix. What would happen if he were to stop intake?" Natasha asked.

"Theoretically, he’d revert back to the Clint before the serum."Phil ended the discussion. He didn’t bother explaining Aaron’s origin story and that he was the last survivor to have the ‘serum’. “Needless to say, this is classified information.” Phil gave Tony a pointed look and the genius just shrugged noncommittally.

Natasha seemed impressed, if the smirk on her face was any indication. Steve looked excited to have a supersoldier-buddy. Thor was Thor. Clint was probably going to get a hug later and a hearty congratulations for who knows what. It was clear that Bruce and Tony wanted to get a peek under the hood, so to speak, but Phil was allowing that over his dead body. 

Nobody knew the whole truth about Aaron, and Phil wasn’t about to share either. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/100678493781/its-only-wednesday-but-im-ready-for-this-week-to)


	3. Chapter 3

“….So.” 

Aaron sighed dramatically and paused the TV. He turned to his right and gave Tony a flat look. 

“About this serum thing. What kind of dosage are we talking about here?”

“Steve.” Aaron called out.

Steve doesn’t look up from his book, “Tony.”

“Fine! Yes. Yes. I know. I agreed to leave it alone.” Tony raised his hands in mock surrender and sat back. Aaron smiled a little too smugly and pressed play on the remote. They spend almost 10 seconds in silence before Tony spoke again. “Tell me you’re not at least a little bit curious-”

Aaron groaned, throwing his head back against the plush couch. 

“-as to what’s inside your bloodstream right now. I mean, come on-”

“Alright Tony.” Steve gets up from his seat. “That’s three strikes today. Up. We’re going to find you a sparring partner.”

“No, but I was just asking Clint if-”

“Up.”

—

Aaron didn’t expect for the Avengers to just receive the news and shrug it off. Of course they were going to be curious. He was the only other super soldier in existence. Even though he’s technically not the same, the science that went behind it had been almost the same. 

So yes. He expected Bruce and Tony to bug him about it. Maybe even ask for a blood sample. But after Steve told them no, and Tony’s ‘but this is for SCIENCE’ and Steve rolled his eyes, it was just Tony that kept on bugging him. 

He thinks that maybe Bruce doesn’t continue to ask him about it is because he knows what it feels like to be treated like this. And Aaron maybe ends up giving him tea later on and allowing Bruce to ask him as much questions as he’s like to which Bruce asked just one: ‘Did it hurt?’

Aaron expected Thor to just shrug it off, because unlike the others, he wasn’t really briefed on what Project Rebirth was.But again, Clint was wrong. Thor did not shrug it off. In fact, he kept on asking Clint if he wanted to spar/feast/drink with him. Since arriving in Midgard, Steve was really the only one who could go toe to toe with him when Banner wasn’t hulked out, so Clint guessed maybe it made sense that Thor was happy about finally having someone like him and Steve to go play or eat with. The only problem was Aaron was just about 60% super soldier. He couldn’t go toe to toe with these guys.

Natasha was subtler with her curiosity. But Aaron already expected that. He expected Nat’s increase in strength when she punches him during sparring sessions, giving him more hard liquor than beer to see just how high his tolerance is, and ‘accidentally’ giving Aaron a paper cut. It was like watching a cat test its boundaries.

Steve on the other hand left Aaron alone. Which was unsurprising reaction from the original Super soldier himself.

—

“So, how is it at your end?” Phil asked him as they walked side by side on the streets in the cold New York night.

“Bruce and Natasha let up. Thor still thinks I can drink barrels of ‘mead’ if the invitations are anything to go by, Tony is still Tony, and Steve is still Steve. So all in all, most of the chaos has died down."

“That’s good to hear.” Phil said, taking his hand and kissing it. 

Aaron smiled at him, enjoying the way Phil’s kiss made him feel all warm inside. “I still can’t believe you told them.”

“Yeah, me too.” Phil frowned as if he was trying to figure out what came over him during that debrief. Aaron laughs at Phil’s reaction, and Phil follows suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/116297271006/i-only-have-the-workbook-left-then-im-left-to)


	4. Chapter 4

“Where have you two been?” Tony practically yelled when the elevator doors opened. “I’ve been trying to get JARVIS to locate your phones!”

Aaron rolled his eyes at the genius as he pulled Phil to get around Tony. “Relax. We turned our phones off so you couldn’t do exactly that.”

“Yes, but what if-”

“If there was an emergency, Fury would contact me.” Phil told him.

“With  _what?”_ Tony asked, nearly hysterical.

“With my beeper.”

“A  _beeper?”_ The genius looked disgusted even saying the word.

“Yes, Stark. Grow up. It’s untraceable.” 

“It’s only untraceable because nobody looks for its signal!”

“Exactly.”

Aaron snorted at that. “Why were you looking for us anyway?” They both sat on the couch and flipped to some crappy reality show.

“It’s not just me. Everybody’s looking for you!”

“What? Why?” Aaron asked him.

Tony didn’t explain. Instead, he said, “JARVIS, playback.”

The TV flipped to a recorded news report. “...reliable sources have confirmed that there is no longer just one super soldier in existence. The second super soldier is said to be one of the five remaining Avengers. This development, according to experts and theorists, might pull forward more attacks to the city by supervillians intending to duplicate the abilities of Captain America. We have still yet to confirm the identity of the second possible supersoldier, but citizens are advised to stay alert and-” The video feed paused, and Phil and Aaron turned to Tony who was gesturing at the screen.

“Well?”

“Well what?” Phil asked.

“Well, what are you planning to do?”

Aaron turned to Phil before shrugging at Tony. “Nothing. It’s not like they know who the second ‘supersoldier’ is.” 

“It’s not a threat  _yet_ ,” Tony stressed. “but what if,”

“what if nothing. They have nothing!” Aaron countered.

“Tony’s right, Clint.” Phil sighed. “We have to contain this before it blows up.”

“But... It’s date night. Can’t it wait tomorrow?” Aaron begged. He was so comfortable with Phil snuggling into him on the couch. 

Stupid rumor. Stupid news. Stupid Tony.

\---

“Well, the good news is we found the ‘reliable source’.” Phil concluded three days later in a debriefing with the Avengers. “The better news is it isn’t one of ours. The only people inside SHIELD that knows about Clint’s condition are in this room, and it would’ve been an awkward reveal otherwise. Anyway, the source appears to have been a HYDRA agent from the last encounter the Avengers had with them, and the reporter is being dealt with as we speak.” Phil concluded.

It wasn’t easy finding that out in three days. Phil had asked for Fury’s cooperation with the matter and the Avengers (or at least the unrecognizable ones; meaning Bruce, Clint and Natasha) went into full recon mode, unofficially interrogating everyone that might have had any connection to the source. Tony was in charge of the tracking the reporter’s activities from previous days, while Thor and Steve were the intimidation tactic that made the HYDRA agent squeal. It was hysterical to watch a grown man cry just because Captain America and Thor was threatening to break his bones. Aaron has a copy of the whole thing for documentation purposes.

“So Clint’s condition is well under wraps?” Fury asked, “No more loose threads that we have to worry about?”

“Other than the frenzy that that first report gave, no, sir.” Phil answered.

“Well then, I trust that you have that under control.”

“Yes sir.”

“Good work, Avengers.” Fury nodded at them and walked out of the room with a swish.

“So that’s it?” Bruce asked,

“For now.” Aaron sighed. “But knowing the media, they’ll look for proof that it was real.”

“So what are we planning?” Thor asked them.

“We give them what they want.” Tony answered. They all turned to him, their expressions ranging from confused to are-you-crazy. “They’re going to be chasing this story until they get something. And instead of having them snoop around for things that they shouldn’t stick their noses into, we give them something to report on.”

“And what do you suggest we give them?” Steve asked.

Tony smiled cryptically in lieu of a response.

\---

“Thank you all for coming today.” Tony said into the microphone. Phil felt an unsettling sense of deja vu and hoped that Tony would just stick to the cards this time. “I’ve gathered you all here today to clarify one thing.” Tony grinned into the flashing cameras and looked down at his cards. “There have been allegations regarding the Avengers that needed clarification. And although the source of that information was indeed reliable as it had been one of the Avengers, it is sadly not true. There is no ‘second’ supersoldier. And there never will be one. We have all seen the repercussions of trying to duplicate whatever it is that made Captain America a supersoldier, and it would be foolish to try again. As for the source of the information, it was me.” Flashes went off left and right and there was a clamor for Tony’s attention, which he quickly dismissed with a wave of a hand. “I was drunk. I was trying to impress a woman. We’ve all done it. Admittedly, I might have gone a bit overboard by saying I was a supersoldier but come on, who doesn’t want to be Captain America?” The reporters laughed with him.

Phil breathed a sigh of relief, Tony had taken one for the team. At least now,  the media’s hunt for the second supersoldier would be tamer and pursuing it any further would be another wild goose chase. 

Aaron’s secret is kept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #ugh#i didnt write this well#sorry in general
> 
> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/124344177886/i-finally-finished-my-intetra-homework-i-only)

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/95824561791/im-back-oh-god-finally-i-missed-tumblr-and)
> 
> As usual, if you want me to continue this fic, send me a [message](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/ask) so I can add it to my queue. :)


End file.
